Grim homecoming for Colorado soldier

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Veteran returns to no home in Colorado

Story highlights

Capt. Immanuel Mgana returned to Colorado Springs from his station in Africa

His home was destroyed by the Waldo Canyon Fire

He and his wife learned about their home's fate from a Denver Post photo

His wife and three children had evacuated hours earlier

U.S. Army Capt. Immanuel Mgana was half a world away from his home and his family in Colorado Springs on June 26, when he received a text message from his wife: It was an image of a house on fire with the words, "This is our home."

"I could identify the house because of my car, which was in the driveway," he said.

Both Mgana and his wife, Melissa, had been following the news of the Waldo Canyon Fire, which had started three days earlier, but neither was aware of their home's fate until they saw that photo, which had been splashed across the front page of the Denver Post.

From his post in the Horn of Africa, Mgana wasn't even aware that his family's home was in danger of being consumed by the wildfire.

Just hours before sending that text, Melissa Mgana had scrambled the couple's three kids into a car and rushed to a friend's house, abandoning plans to celebrate their son Kael's 10th birthday.

"We had picked up the cake. We were just preparing for a birthday evening," she said.

Amid the last-minute birthday preparations, Melissa continually checked local news reports about the progress of the massive fire as it bore down on Colorado Springs. At that time, the blaze had forced the evacuation of 11,000 people (that number would later triple), threatening 13,000 homes, and none of the fire had been contained.

The Mganas' home was front and center in this photo featured on the front page of the Denver Post.

"I was watching the news and I would run outside and look at the plume," she said.

As the sky grew darker and more ominous, Melissa knew time was running out.

"When I looked up and saw the flames coming over the ridge is when I knew it was possibly very serious," she said. "I just said, 'We need to get out of here.'"

Photos: Wildfires devastate Western states 51 photos

Photos: Wildfires devastate Western states51 photos

Wildfires devastate Western states – A firefighter works a burnout operation on the north flank of the Fontenelle Fire outside Big Piney, Wyoming, on Wednesday, July 4. More than 800 firefighters are working 15-hour shifts battling the fire that has exceeded 56,000 acres, according to fire information services.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Trees smolder and burn on the north flank of the Fontenelle Fire. The crews are working and sleeping close to the fire in an effort to contain it.

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Photos: Wildfires devastate Western states51 photos

Wildfires devastate Western states – Firefighter Ryan Christian sits with his crew from Alaska before heading out to fight the Fontenelle Fire outside Big Piney. The blaze, burning in dead and thick stands of timber, started on June 24 and is 15% contained.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Firefighter Alex Abols monitors fire on the north flank of the Fontenelle Fire outside Big Piney. Record fire danger and long stretches of the red flag warning days have made it challenging to control.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A utilities worker walks past the skeleton of a vehicle on Monday, July 2, while searching for gas leaks in a Colorado Springs community ravaged by the Waldo Canyon Fire.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – An American flag waves Monday in front of a house leveled by the Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado Springs. Residents began returnning to the area on Sunday after the fire forced thousands of people from their homes.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – The words "We Will Rebuild" are seen written on the sidewalk in front of a house in Colorado Springs that was destroyed by the fire.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Fire-destroyed homes are seen in the Mountain Shadows neighborhood in Colorado Springs, where hundreds of residents were given an eight-hour window to visit their properties on Sunday, July 1.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A jogger on Sunday looks out over neighborhoods in Colorado Springs that were evacuated due to the Waldo Canyon Fire. The massive fire has destroyed hundreds of homes and forced more than 32,000 people to flee.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Frank Baker visits the remains of his brother's home in Bellvue, Colorado, on Saturday, June 30. The house was burned to the ground in the High Park Fire.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Homes destroyed by the Waldo Canyon Fire are seen from the air in a Colorado Springs neighborhood on Saturday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Damaged cars line the curb in front of ruined houses in Colorado Springs.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – The line of fire damage is clearly visible in this Colorado Springs neighborhood.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Smoke billows at sunrise from part of the Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – One home stands surrounded by others destroyed by the Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs on Saturday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Homes burned to the ground by the Waldo Canyon fire are seen in a neighborhood in Colorado Springs on Saturday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – The fire, which has burned more than 15,000 acres, began spreading to the southwestern corner of the Air Force Academy in the early morning, causing base officials to evacuate residents.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – President Barack Obama tours fire damage with elected officials and firefighters in the Mountain Shadows residential neighborhood in Colorado Springs on Friday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Firefighters get ready to tackle the Waldo Canyon Fire on Friday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A house is engulfed in flames as fire crews fight to contain it at the Rose Crest fire in Herriman, Utah, on Friday, June 29. Crews are fighting to contain six separate blazes in the state.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A pig is evacuated in a wheelbarrow from the Ching Family Animal Refuge in Herriman, Utah, as the wildfires worsen on Friday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Melissa Bowman, a CNN iReporter from Big Piney, Wyoming, captures the Fontenelle Fire close to her home as she waits for an evacuation notice.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A camp for firefighters is set up at Holmes Middle School in Colorado Springs on Thursday, June 28. The Waldo Canyon Fire has scorched more than 16,700 acres.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A partially burned home smolders Thursday in Colorado Springs.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – The line where the Waldo Canyon Fire stopped moving east is seen from the air in Colorado Springs. Lower temperatures and lighter winds helped firefighters on Thursday in the battle against the fire.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – An aerial view of a destroyed neighborhood in the aftermath of the Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – The Waldo Canyon fire spreads through a neighborhood in the hills above Colorado Springs on June 26. See more photos at The Denver Post.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Hazy smoke from the Waldo Canyon Fire looms behind the Air Force Academy stadium on Wednesday, June 27, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The fire expanded to 15,000 acres. More than 32,000 people have been evacuated.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Susan Custer and her husband, Gary Custer, watch the Waldo Canyon Fire on Wednesday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – At dawn on Tuesday, firefighters stir from their tents at a camp near Holmes Middle School.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Smoke billows from the Waldo Canyon Fire west of Colorado Springs on Tuesday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Evacuees drive under a shroud of smoke from the Waldo Canyon Fire on Tuesday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – J'Amie Sirvaitis of Colorado Springs watches the Waldo Canyon Fire after winds pushed the fire into the Mountain Shadows neighborhood in Colorado Springs on Tuesday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Residents of Colorado Springs watch as the Waldo Canyon Fire burns a home in the Mountain Shadows neighborhood on Tuesday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Smoke from the Waldo Canyon Fire engulfs Interstate 25 north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, as the blaze burns out of control Tuesday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A large plume of smoke from the Waldo Canyon Fire fills the sky west of Colorado Springs on Tuesday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Jan Stone, right, comforts Angela Morgan as smoke from the Waldo Canyon Fire pours over the Mountain Shadows neighborhood of Colorado Springs on Tuesday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A portion of the Waldo Canyon Fire moves across a hillside above a subdivision west of Colorado Springs on Tuesday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Colorado State Patrol and Colorado Department of Transportation personnel set up a roadblock west of Manitou Springs, Colorado, on Monday, June 25.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A portion of the Waldo Canyon fire burns out of control in the hills west of Manitou Springs on Monday.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Trees burn on a ridge above Cedar Heights in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on June 24.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Greg and Karen Bodine help her father, Duane Schormann, left, load his animals into a trailer near Colorado Springs as they evacuate the area June 24.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – The High Park Fire, which was 45% contained as of June 23, has destroyed 191 homes west of Fort Collins.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – The High Park Fire rages through the forest west of Fort Collins, Colorado, on June 19.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Local resident Dwayne Crawford looks out at the High Park Fire from his home west of Fort Collins on June 19.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A heavy air tanker drops fire retardant on the blaze June 19. Its growth potential was "extreme," according to authorities.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Flames scorched this area outside of Fort Collins where the High Park Fire has burned out, June 19.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A helicopter drops water over the Wood Hollow Fire north of Fairview, Utah, on Tuesday, June 26

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Wildfires devastate Western states – A wall of fire makes its way down a hillside toward a farm north of Fairview, Utah, on Tuesday, June 26. The Wood Hollow Fire, one of at least three wildfires burning in Utah, has grown to nearly 39,000 acres.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Smoldering earth and damage from the Dump Fire, which began June 21, can be seen outside a plant near Saratoga Springs, Utah, on Saturday, June 23.

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Wildfires devastate Western states – Burned-out terrain from the Dump Fire fills a hillside near Saratoga Springs, Utah on Saturday.

Wildfire victims tour devastated homes

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Wildfires: Grandma raising 4 loses home

"I knocked on the door and I believe my daughter Grace opened the door first and she just stepped back for a moment," he said. "She didn't know how to react, but after a few seconds she was just all over me."

The emotional pendulum swung from the despair to "elation," Melissa said.

"There was a ring at the door bell and there he was," she said, still beaming at the memory. "I felt so relieved. It was amazing."

"This wasn't something my wife could do alone," Immanuel said. "I definitely needed to be there for support. Also, the kids, they needed a father figure around."

The Waldo Canyon fire charred more than 18,000 acres and destroyed 346 homes, making it the most destructive in the state's history. At the height of the fire, 32,000 Colorado residents evacuated their homes. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

The Mganas have made a temporary home at a local hotel, where they spent the Fourth of July holiday. The couple's three children -- Kael, 10, Sofia, 5, and Grace, 2 -- splash around in the hotel pool while Melissa and Immanuel talk about their hope for the family's future.

"We just feel compelled to rebuild there," Melissa said of the lot where their home once stood.

"After 15 years of being together, we've weathered a lot of storms together and we just know how to get through things together," Immanuel said, putting his arm around his wife. "It's a new beginning for us."